The Springboks won’t hold anything back in the World Cup warm-up match against Wales in Cardiff, regardless of the spate of pre-tournament injuries and suspensions.
The past weekend of warm-up matches saw a number of high-profile players drop out of the upcoming World Cup, either due to injury or suspension.
Tournament hosts France suffered a double blow, losing flyhalf Romain Ntamack (knee) and loosehead prop Cyrill Baille (calf), while England will be without scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet (ankle).
England are also likely to be without captain Owen Farrell for the pool stages as the flyhalf faces a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday for his red card against Wales.
MORE: Kolisi set for miracle comeback
However, any thought that the Boks would take this into account and hold back for their penultimate warm-up match on Saturday was quickly dismissed by lock Jean Kleyn during a virtual press conference from Cardiff on Monday afternoon.
“Everything is at stake, we can’t look at any game over the next 10 or 11 weeks as just another match,” Kleyn said. “Every weekend is the next biggest match of your life, that is how it is regarded by the players.
“We don’t have a lackadaisical outlook to say, ‘this is just another warm-up game before the real competition starts’. This is the start of our World Cup.”
The Boks have themselves felt the pain of pre-World Cup injuries, with 2019 stalwarts Handre Pollard (calf) and Lukhanyo Am (knee) joined by Lood de Jager (heart condition) as big omissions from the 33-player squad.
PLUS: Les Bleus suffer World Cup double whammy
Meanwhile, captain Siya Kolisi, loosehead prop Ox Nche and scrumhalves Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams are all working their way back to full fitness after being included in the World Cup squad.
Kleyn was joined by scrum coach Daan Human, and the former prop urged the Boks to play without fear at the Millennium Stadium.
“If you look at all the other national teams, there are a lot of injuries,” Human said from the Boks’ base in Cardiff. “France just lost Ntamack and he’s their first-choice flyhalf. So it does happen. It happened to us as well, we have one or two guys on the fringe coming back from injury who aren’t in the group at the moment. We are still tracking them.
“It will have an influence, but unfortunately, these are games that should be played in preparation for the World Cup. I don’t think we must fear going into these games. We have a lot of depth in this group, there are a lot of guys who can come in.
“It’s part of the game, unfortunately.”
Photo: JUAN MABROMATA / AFP